The best policy is to keep things as standard as possible. Keep a list of all the steps to recreate the system from scratch. The shorter this list is the better. This is all the more important if you’re leaving someone else to maintain the system.
- I prefer to use Inductive’s PPA repository to install Ignition (viewtopic.php?f=64&t=8060)
- Go with Ubuntu because it’s Debian-based. I avoid all CentOS/Fedora/Redhat-based distributions- they are nothing but trouble.
- MySQL is a sane default option for database mainly due its popularity. Shouldn’t need to change any configuration for it.
- Virtualization is definitely more hassle than it’s worth.
- I use rsync for backups because it’s command-line and can be run as a cron script. If you want to pull backups from another machine you may prefer other options.
Does this machine even need a GUI?
- If it’s needed to run the system, consider using the ultimate bare-bones system possible. Ratpoison is nice if there’s only one program to run- there are no window decorations and it forces everything to be full screen.
- If it’s for administration, avoid this if at all possible. Servers should always be configured via the command line. It’s simpler, it’s more obvious what changes are being made, and it discourages people from messing with it unless they know what they’re doing.